Living in the middle of nowhere....

[uhurit]

All of the above means only one thing: it's a classic case of being trapped. No money or apparent motivation to take a risk of getting out and going on a limb. And that's exactly what it would take.

 

[Svenn]

Originally Posted by impolyt_one

You guys encouraging him to stay in the country; this guy is not apt to have good pickings amongst 400 people when he gets sick of ********** with himself and is unemployed, in debt, and has only nature around him. He needs to get to a place where he can be employed and be with people or his prime years will be squandered.

I agree, but I would also caution against the young man's common practice of over-analyzing the value of one's life, i.e. thinking in terms of 'wasting' or 'squandering' time... ultimately OP you need to be happy with yourself, and even if you had chicks falling over you in a LA mansion or whatever, you'd still be having thoughts about the greener grass on the other side. If you have the patience, you could try improving yourself and letting go of your desires for a bit, rather than just autonomically thirsting for wealth and ***** like every other human. Otherwise, I'd just go to grad school to get the lucrative career you want so you can get out of the country... no point in struggling away at some menial job, just get the education over with. I'd hold off on international travel until you have more funds, it'll be much funner. I come from a very similar situation to yours, so this is just what I've found to work for me.

 

[L.R.]

I'm 22. I haven't seen another person within 8 years of my age (except for high school kids) in a month. This is painful.

 

[RSS]

I'm in the process of giving up living in San Francisco & New York ... to live in the middle of no where. My nearest neighbor will be a mile+/- away.

 

[Don Carlos]

Honestly, I don't see the harm in living in the middle of nowhere at an early age. Gives you time to focus. Gives you time to throw yourself, wholly free of distractions, into your career and your goals. Gives you time to be alone with yourself -- something we rarely have this day and age -- and reflect on what you actually want, rather than what your friends think will be good for you. If you don't have the extra skills you need to climb the ladder, this distraction-free environment is the perfect place to build them. Learn a second language. Take some courses in various subjects that will round you out professionally. Pursue an interesting hobby or two.

When people speak of "building character" by living in challenging times or challenging environments, they don't just mean that it's a passive thing. You don't build character through mere osmosis from your surroundings. Character is what you rise to do when you realize you want to do nothing else.

 

[epb]

Originally Posted by L.R.

I'm 22. I haven't seen another person within 8 years of my age (except for high school kids) in a month. This is painful.

Then get out. I grew up in rural KY and left for Chicago when I was 23. Lots of friends and relatives my age (I've got 20-30 cousins) all talked about getting out, but all these conditions had to be perfect for them to try and of course life never is. I'm the ONLY one that made it out, because the only condition to be met was: location - out of Kentucky. Twenty years later, people are still amazed I moved here with no friends, family or job. I had enough money to pay the rent for a few months, took the first job I could get, and went from there. I had some rough times - at one point early on I was out of work for a year, ran through all my savings, was evicted and lost pretty much everything I owned - but it was still worth it.

And like you, I don't hate the place. I'm in the process of buying a house there for when I retire down the line, and I would totally raise a family there. Spending time in both environments makes for a much more well-rounded person, imo.

The worst that could happen, realistically, is you'll fail and have to try again, or discover you hate it and move back. Scrape a few bucks together and go for it.